Game 3, 1988 State of Origin
June 21, 1988 · Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Game 3, 1988 State of Origin: Queensland 38–22 New South Wales, at Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney on June 21, 1988.
Attendance: 16,910
Series decider, completing Queensland's first-ever 3-0 Origin whitewash. Halftime was level 18-18. This game's complete try list for both teams -- the single biggest gap found in this project's State of Origin research -- required a dedicated follow-up pass beyond an initial one that could not reconcile either team's scoring to the final score; the resolved list (7 Queensland tries including a Sam Backo brace, 4 New South Wales tries) now reconciles exactly for both sides.
Scorers
| Queensland | Tries: Backo (2); Belcher; French; Kilroy; Langer; Lewis Goals: Belcher (5/7) |
| New South Wales | Tries: Ferguson; Hanson; O'Connor; Pearce Goals: O'Connor (3/5) |
Teams
| Queensland | New South Wales | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Belcher | Fullback | Garry Jack | 1 |
| 2 | Alan McIndoe | Wing | John Ferguson | 2 |
| 3 | Tony Currie | Centre | Mark McGaw | 3 |
| 4 | Peter Jackson | Centre | Michael O'Connor | 4 |
| 5 | Joe Kilroy | Wing | Andrew Ettingshausen | 5 |
| 6 | Wally Lewis | Five-eighth | Cliff Lyons | 6 |
| 7 | Allan Langer | Halfback | Des Hasler | 7 |
| 8 | Paul Vautin | Prop | Paul Langmack | 8 |
| 9 | Bob Lindner | Hooker | Wayne Pearce | 9 |
| 10 | Wally Fullerton-Smith | Prop | Steve Folkes | 10 |
| 11 | Sam Backo | Second Row | Steve Roach | 11 |
| 12 | Greg Conescu | Second Row | Ben Elias | 12 |
| 13 | Martin Bella | Lock | Steve Hanson | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Brett French | Noel Cleal | 14 | |
| 15 | Trevor Gillmeister | Greg Florimo | 15 | |
| Wayne Bennett | Coach | John Peard | ||
Player of the Match
Sam Backo (Queensland)
Match officials
| Referee | Greg McCallum |
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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